Blog
Talk to the global leaders in fleet management, vehicle tracking and personal safety
If you are planning a holiday road trip for the festive season in 2011, but want to keep your carbon footprint to a minimum, we’ve got some quick and easy tips for you to keep your travel as eco-friendly and carbon-neutral as possible.
From MiX Telematics, Happy Holidays and travel safely!
Brendan Buzer is a Product Manager at MiX Telematics International, based in South Africa. He is passionate about the outdoors and the environment and hopes to convey his enthusiasm for this subject on to others. Follow him on Twitter at @brendanbuzer.
Shawn Graaff is the Online Content & Social Media Manager for MiX Telematics International. Based in South Africa, Shawn is an American dreaming in digital with a special interest in Mobile for Africa and sustainable living. Follow her tweets about Social Media Marketing, SEO, Content Strategy, and Online Community Management @ShawnGraaff.
At the conference countries are classified as either Annexe 1 or 2, which is the fancy name for developed and developing countries. Under the current protocol only the developed countries have to set aside part of their annual GDP to developing and putting in place sustainable technologies, as they already have adequate infrastructure and investment in their countries, thus allowing them to channel funds elsewhere.
Inconsistencies in this ranking of countries cause problems. For example, China (Annexe 2) is the largest contributor to global CO2 emissions, closely followed by the USA (Annexe1). These are two of the world’s superpowers and the US believes China should also be penalised financially. China’s argument against this is that looking at per capita emissions China is close to the bottom of the table and the US is highest by far.
This is an example of one of the many problems that has to be overcome in the upcoming talks, if we hope to have some legislation governing emissions in the future.
What can be expected from COP17?
It is going to be interesting. I believe that the Kyoto protocol agreement will be extended for another 2-4 years which will allow time to put together a new agreement, or extend the current one, but with new emissions targets. There is going to be a lot of pressure on China and the United States to come up with some kind of resolution, in order for the process to go forward.
How will this affect us?
Any kind of resolution that is reached will mean the reduction of green house gasses. This is done through putting emissions caps on businesses. If a business goes over this cap they will be liable for a fine. This will target the industries that are responsible for large amounts of emissions. The road transport industry is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. At MiX we realise this. We already offset our own emissions through one of our own solutions, MiX COI and we are also continually looking for new ways to reduce the companies impact on the environment.
These talks are vital to the continuation of some sort of legislation that governs emissions, with out this the world is in some serious trouble, so let’s hope for the best.
Brendan Buzer is a Product Manager at MiX Telematics International, based in South Africa. He is passionate about the outdoors and the environment and hopes to convey his enthusiasm for this subject on to others. Follow him on Twitter at @brendanbuzer.
Steve Jobs not only pushed himself and his ventures to the limits of development potential, he tapped into a sphere of technological ingenuity that perhaps could not have been foreseen. He changed the way we think, the way we work, the way we live. Steve Jobs has left a legacy in many the general population’s lives via the mobile and computing devices we use, but he has also made an astounding impact on the fields of Design and Development that his legacy will forever live on in the dawn of the new Digital Age that his ‘Think Different’ mantra has given rise to.
As the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple, co-founder of Pixar Animation studios, a member on the board of directors of the Walt Disney Company, and founder of NeXT, the late Steve Jobs paved many roads in design and development. He was an inspirational and creative powerhouse and with the introduction of everything ‘i’ or ‘mac,’ Developer, Trevor Langeveldt, notes that “Jobs ultimately revolutionised the way we see and interact with the world digitally as well as how we model our user interface and use design principles to better serve the needs of our end-users.”
Wednesday, 5 October 2011, the world lost Steve Jobs the man, but we will never lose his contributions to the way we interact with devices and technology. “MiX Telematics’ Developers and Designers have certainly been influenced by the strides in development innovation made by Apple with Jobs at the helm, especially in terms of User Experience, Mobile App Development, and even Design principles. It’s clear that we all strive more now than ever to Think Different,” notes Charl van Wyk, MiX Telematics UI specialist, who focuses on the fusion of Design and Development.
“Here at MiX Telematics, we care about User Experience and much like Steve Jobs, our developers take their work to heart. Being passionate about what you do is the key to success and we’re proud to say that passion most definitely plays a big part in how we work as a company,” says Product Manager, Tertius Wessels.
It also goes without saying that Steve Jobs’ innovations in the field have influenced all levels of a development team. Terry Buzer, Group Director responsible for Development, feels that “keeping developers motivated and inspired is a key performance objective that MiX Telematics strives to maintain and in so doing, we are able to bring the end user the very best in telematics technology design and quality.”
MiX Telematics Developer, Chris van Wyk, says, “Mobile development and for a large part, software development, are key creative outlets for me. For me to be creative, I truly need to believe in what I’m doing. I believe the natural progression from here forward will be seeing your users experience a ‘Wow, this is great’ moment when using your products.”
Thank you, Steve Jobs, for making us Think Different, reach further, and create with more confidence.
Shawn Graaff is the Online Content & Social Media Manager for MiX Telematics International. Based in South Africa, Shawn is an American dreaming in digital with a special interest in Mobile for Africa and sustainable living. Follow her tweets about Social Media Marketing, SEO, Content Strategy, and Online Community Management @ShawnGraaff.
A brand has been described as a set of promises in the mind of the consumer; it’s also been defined as an organisation’s reputation, or personality. Blackcoffee, brand management and design consultancy, describes a brand as “an experience living at the intersection of promise and expectation.” Here are some tips on getting started in your efforts to ‘Back Your Brand’…
Embarking on a brand assessment initiative is almost always an exciting step in the right direction. Back your brand and benefit from the many hidden opportunities that lie just beneath the surface!
Leanne Jory is the Communications Manager for MiX Telematics International. Her passion for branding is supported by international experience in the fields of internal and external communication. Industries in which Leanne has gained experience include technology, logistics, advertising and real estate. Follow Leanne on Twitter @LeanneJory
On 20 July 2011 Morne du Toit and his family celebrated a moment to cherish as his doctor informed him that after 4 months of chemotherapy there were no traces of Hodgkin’s lymphoma remaining in his system.
To celebrate with his MiX family Morne carved his way through an enormous cake. The sugar rush was almost as exhilarating as hearing the good news and we are all ecstatic for Morne who has been a real role model throughout his recovery period. Never has he uttered a complaint nor become despondent, keeping his focus on what mattered most – making sure he came through well for his, and his families sake.
Our message to Morne is this: Life is like the hair on top of your head; sometimes short, sometimes long. Glad we can say in your case there is no correlation to your own hair. ☺
Congratulations and keep fighting.
For a few short but magical hours the Upper Eastside Hotel in Woodstock was the center of the wine universe as the 2011 Nederburg Auction Public Tastings dazzled wine lovers with 19 exclusive and fine wines to taste.
Showing their appreciation for fine wines, Cedric, Sabine, Gavin and Christina at the Nederburg Auction Public Tastings.
With MiX Stellenbosch offices situated in the heart of the Winelands it is no surprise that MiX was well represented at this memorable occasion. Gavin Harvett, Christina Harvett, Sabine Klisch and Cedric Jones were there to enjoy an evening of indulgence with some of the best wines the local wine industry has to offer.
Guests made their way through the tasting schedule in style as they were treated to wines representing various varietals, vineyards and cultivars. The tasting was led by Cape Wine Master Bennie Howard and guests got the opportunity to taste, amongst others, a 2004 Syrah from Marcel de Reuck, an elegant 2005 Merlot from De Grendel, Le Bonheur’s acclaimed Prima 2001, and a 2005 Nederburg Private Bin Eminence, the beautiful dessert wine produced by 2011’s Platter’s SA Wine Guide Winery of the Year.
In true fashion MiX’ers set high standards in all areas and of course our very own wine experts we asked some questions.
See Gavin and Cedric being interviewed below.
MiX Telematics is proud to launch our new Calendar Competition for 2012. The competition, which we run each year, is open to all employees and MiX Telematics dealers and appeals to our network’s budding photographers!
Each participant can submit up to 20 high quality photos and the winning entries are then published in the MiX Telematics Calendar for the year to come.
To make it more engaging, we select a theme that allows for the perfect combination between artistic freedom and impressive entries. The theme for this year’s competition is simply, COLOUR! It is no mystery that we are all affected by colour. In China, red is the colour of happiness, white the colour of autumn. Yellow is associated with happiness and fun, while brown offers a warm reminder of the earth beneath our feet. Our world speaks to us in colour and we speak back through a spectrum of interpretations and applications.
We’re excited to co-create a World of Colour with our employees and dealers and plan on announcing the winners sometime in September. The closing date is 31 August 2011.
Being passionate about testing and quality in the development process, I spend a lot of time with our QA Manager and have learned so much in the last 6 months. In any agile world, continuous introspection and improvement is a key aspect that ensures quality is maintained as we learn where we went wrong and how to do better.
I love story maps. I love that they are big and visible. That at one glance you can see what is going to be delivered in the next release. That everyone can see what is coming up next.
It worked really well in the beginning. It assisted our product owner in thinking about what he really wanted and thus empowering him to prioritise and communicate the reasoning behind that easily. Its up on the wall in the team room and everyone can see it easily.
There were some drawbacks though. As its up on the wall – its hard to move to a meeting room for grooming sessions. That also means the product owner cant use it when hes communicating to customers/stakeholders. Another problem – as the stories get groomed they split up into smaller stories and your story map grows exponentially – and the wall couldn’t be extended… The product owner and myself were the ones updating the board … and I would prefer the team more involved in this. I believe a team that owns a story map with the product owner is the ideal to strive for.
We tried the online story map which was awesome, but as expected keeping the online map and the real wall map in sync quickly became problematic. (Especially as printing out and killing forests is something I’m loathe to do). Here is another online story map tool, that I stumbled upon toolsforagile – also very nice!
A few weeks ago I read this blog post by Roman Pichler and decided to try some out-the-box thinking with regards to our release planning.
I loved the idea of boxing the themes (as opposed to columns on a story board). I also like the product and UI design parts – but would prefer them closer(?) to the theme they belong to. The constraints filled a gap that was missing for me – but again I wanted them closer to where they impacted a story. But this was enough to kick start my imagination.
As the Unogwaja athletes, John McInroy, Paul Blake, WP van Zyl, and Lourens van Zyl push on towards Pietermaritzburg, they report back on their appreciation of the support that drives them forward, and the emotional journey of envisioning the impossible.
Watch the the report-back video below by the athletes themselves
Follow the team via Twitter (@redsockfriday) for regular updates on their progress along the route.
